


Team at Play

by Kalira



Series: Soul of Team 7 [2]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Shapeshifters, Cuddling & Snuggling, Gen, Kakashi Week, Kakashi Week 2020, Playing, Shapeshifting, Team Bonding, Training
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-15
Updated: 2020-09-15
Packaged: 2021-03-07 02:55:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,587
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26269813
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kalira/pseuds/Kalira
Summary: Kakashi puts his team through their paces, in and out of their soul forms, and the brats get a little more comfortable with themselves and each other.
Relationships: Dai-nana-han | Team 7 & Hatake Kakashi, Haruno Sakura & Uzumaki Naruko
Series: Soul of Team 7 [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1925536
Comments: 22
Kudos: 212
Collections: Kakashi Week 2020, Kalira's Kakashi Week Stories (2020)





	Team at Play

**Author's Note:**

> Written for [Kakashi Week](https://kakashiweek.tumblr.com/post/623757588975190016/kakashi-week-2020-prompts), Day 3: Free Day
> 
> I've contemplated writing more off Teamwork in a New Guise almost since I finished it, and finally here we are! I'm not sure yet if there will be more in this world or not.

Kakashi smothered a sigh and tapped Naruto’s heel with the side of his foot, correcting his posture again, one hand sliding beneath his forearm and bringing it up before he could loose his handful of shuriken and stab himself in the stomach with one.

Naruto laughed awkwardly, rubbing the back of his head with his empty hand. “Thanks, Kaka-sensei!”

Kakashi nodded, taking his shoulders and directing him more towards the targets. “Run through the brace of shuriken once more, then take a break.” he instructed, and Naruto huffed, but a firm squeeze of his shoulders quieted him before he really protested.

Kakashi retreated, keeping an eye on Naruto as he threw his first shuriken - inflicting no injuries on himself and getting them mostly towards the target - then shifting his attention to check on his other students. Sasuke was determinedly stalking from tree to tree, his chakra control - and his tree walking - much better now. It still fell short of Sakura’s, and Kakashi suspected that was why Sasuke was scowling so fiercely, and why he had been working at the task all morning, since Kakashi suggested they each choose what they felt was a weak point to work on for the beginning of their day’s training.

It gave him an idea how accurate their self-assessments were, and beyond that, what they thought was important.

Sasuke had been working on tree walking and had refused to be stirred from it - Kakashi would force him off and into a break after lunch, and point him to some other chakra control exercises, however resistant he was to the idea. Naruto had started on ninjutsu, but when Kakashi had reined him in and suggested he put some work into his aim, he had taken to it with only minor pouting, listening intently as Kakashi advised him on improving his throws. And nodding when Kakashi pointed out improved aim would also assist with his jutsu. Sakura had split her focus between taijutsu practise and smoothing her already near-perfect shifts, getting faster and springing into her soul form mid-kata.

Kakashi headed towards her now, then paused as she pounced on her tail with a soft call that would have been a roar, had it been much louder. She caught it beneath her paws and tumbled over the grass, fangs flashing as she bit at the twitching tip.

A smile tugging at his lips, Kakashi hummed low in his throat as he watched her. She’d grown distracted, but he had intended to pull her off her shifting practise for a while in any case. Moving confidently in her soul form was a good skill, and one that her current distraction would only aid in, besides. . .

Kakashi dropped into his own soul form and shook himself, bounding towards Sakura and bowling her gently off her paws the moment she had regained them. Sakura yowled in surprise, looking up at him, tail lashing, claws out as she took a swipe at him.

It was easy enough for Kakashi to avoid, and he barked softly, tail wagging, as he moved aside to let her roll back to her paws. Sakura shifted uneasily, ears swivelling back and forth and tail flicking.

Kakashi gave her a moment, then lunged - slowly, carefully, showing the motion clearly before he committed to the leap. Sakura roared and darted aside, then stopped herself halfway through a return pounce. Kakashi snorted and moved around her, slowly coaxing her into coming after him, bit by bit.

He grinned and let himself go down when she finally leapt with all her weight behind it, rolling across the grass. He yipped in surprise and Sakura reared back as a small red-orange blur darted past their faces and bounced off Kakashi’s ribs to leap on Sakura’s shoulders.

Naruto was far too much smaller to play this game safely, but. . .

Sakura chuffed, moving carefully as she slid off Kakashi, and he rolled to his paws, shaking himself and inspecting both his students quickly. Naruto barked and jumped at his face, and Kakashi ducked, wincing as sharp little teeth caught his ear. Naruto released him quickly, whining apologetically and licking his ear, paws a quick little patter down Kakashi’s back as he moved away again.

Kakashi snorted, amused, and glanced at Sakura as Naruto jumped at her. She would need to learn to manoeuvre around smaller teammates in any case . . . and Naruto would need to be quick and clever manoeuvring around larger forms himself.

It would be good practise, and Kakashi was in the middle of things to keep it under control.

* * *

Sasuke drained half of his bottle of water, breathless and feeling wrung out and exhausted. He refused to pack in his practise yet, though. Sakura had done it more smoothly than this the very first time Kakashi-sensei had told them how. Sasuke was going to master it and then do _better_. It was only _Sakura_.

He was stronger than she was anyway, it was only because _he_ was used to using more chakra than she was, he was sure; he remembered the splintering bark beneath his feet as he struggled to keep from expelling too much chakra and causing damage - and pushing himself away from the tree he was trying to walk up in the process.

He stretched his tense legs, looking down at the rest of the training field, and stilled.

Naruto bounded in a high arc, in his fox shape for some reason, and landed on Sakura’s back as she dodged Kakashi-sensei. They were _all_ shifted. Sasuke shook his head, snorting.

Sakura pounced on Kakashi-sensei and he pretended she had caught him, lying on his side even as Naruto leapt from her back to his side. Naruto’s paws sank into Kakashi-sensei’s thick fur, and Sasuke’s brows rose.

Then he scowled as Naruto looked his way, drinking a little more water and testing his chakra. He was _tired_ , but he was determined. He was a good ninja and he wasn’t going to give up, he was going to _master_ this.

He ignored the noisy tangle of his teammates skiving off any _real_ work and their lazy sensei allowing it, and got up, setting out along another branch.

* * *

“Hey! Cute students!” Kakashi called, and smiled at Sakura, who was nearest, as she ended her kata and folded herself neatly at his feet, legs crossed.

Naruto careened across the grass, tail flicking and paws flying, skidding almost directly into Sakura’s back before coming to a stop beside her. Sakura reached down with a smile, not even looking as she stroked from behind his ears down his neck and back, and Kakashi’s brows rose.

Naruto twitched and froze under Sakura’s hand. Kakashi frowned, watching, even as he idly marked Sasuke slinking nearer. Sakura petted Naruto and he relaxed slowly, tail twitching, and then pressed up against the outside of her thigh.

Kakashi nodded shallowly and looked over the three of them before settling on the ground himself, drawing their attention to the skills the practise in their soul forms was honing and highlighting the places they still needed to work at improving. Some of the places.

Kakashi smothered a sigh. It had been months, and he was . . . mostly adjusted to working with genin, but it was still. . . Kakashi shook himself minutely and answered Sakura’s question with an approving smile.

* * *

Naruto shivered, tail twitching, as Sakura’s fingers curled through his fur, scritching gently at his neck and running down his back to pat just at the base of his tail, then moving up to start again at his head.

He settled and didn’t try to shift, tentatively moving closer. Sakura’s hand continued to run over his fur gently, and Naruto gekkered softly, rubbing against her and arching into her hand. He lost track of what Kakashi-sensei was saying, whimpering under the pats and light scritches.

He didn’t quite mean to roll over, but when he did and Sakura’s fingers splayed over his fluffy stomach. . .

Naruto wriggled happily, squeezing closer to her and waggling his paws. Sakura grinned at him with a little giggle - it was a friendly sound, not a mean one, and Naruto’s ears flicked, perking towards her - and gently tugged at his fur.

Naruto followed the tug and then dared to push on even closer, scrabbling up over Sakura’s thigh and all but tumbling into her lap. Sakura twitched and he whined, putting his ears back and wondering if he had gone too far; he hadn’t even _thought_ before he’d moved, he’d just _done_ it, following impulse, and-

Sakura put both hands down to Naruto, rubbing his ears and down his neck, squeezing gently, ruffling his fur and petting. He rolled in her hands and gave himself up to the entirely new sensations of being held this way and petted and-

Naruto gekkered again, fluffed tail flicking, folding one paw around Sakura’s wrist and nosing into her palm, nipping and licking affectionately.

* * *

Kakashi stretched, rolling his shoulders. He was more relaxed than he had been in . . . a long time, he thought. It was good for his brats - if only in a slow, dreadful slog; they were so inexperienced, so _new_ \- spending time together, training and . . . _playing_ in their soul forms. It was also good for him.

He’d forgotten how it felt, relaxing into his soul form on a frequent basis.

He tipped his head, watching the brats heading out - back towards the village proper, to their homes or wherever else they went when they were out of his hands at the end of training days. Sasuke was far ahead of his teammates, having not so much as glanced at them before setting off alone, and Kakashi sighed, mouth tugging downwards.

He tried, but he wasn’t sure how to fix Sasuke’s distance from his teammates - _they_ tried, in their very different ways, but he remained standoffish and prone to snappish sulks, utterly resistant to any of their overtures. Working with them in their soul forms only seemed to make it worse.

Regardless of his team, however, Sasuke needed to accept his own soul form, or it would only make things worse for himself. Kakashi had seen ninja tie themselves up in knots over such things before, repressing themselves and fighting the truth of their being until they broke. He didn’t wish that for his student - for any of them.

Fortunately the other two, while they had been uneasy with their soul forms as well when he first began working with them through shifts, had rapidly settled into themselves. Neither had been so adamantly displeased with themselves as Sasuke had seemed to be, even that day, however.

The tightness in Kakashi’s chest eased a little as his gaze landed on his other two students, walking away together. Naruto was still in his fox form, even though they were heading back into the more populated parts of the village - though all Kakashi could see of him from here was his plush tail draped over Sakura’s arm from where she held him.

Sasuke’s lip had curled almost into a sneer at the sight, but certainly Naruto had not given even the slightest protest against being coddled and petted earlier, lolling on his back to offer his belly and eventually slinking cautiously into Sakura’s lap. Kakashi wasn’t _terribly_ surprised to see Sakura coddling him again now, though he wasn’t sure. . .

Kakashi shadowed them as they returned to the village, watching to see how the sight of a _fox_ was received, knowing all too well the kind of anger that might find a target in him this way. Naruto had scrambled up to lie around Sakura’s neck like a stole, freeing her hands, and Kakashi laughed softly as she reached up to pat him. Perhaps it was because of his position there, but no one seemed to be paying much mind to the little fox kit draped around Sakura’s shoulders.

Kakashi watched for a little longer as his students made their way peacefully through the village, then slipped away, mind eased.

* * *

Sakura hummed, delicately scritching the top of Naruto’s muzzle with one finger as she wandered through the market, the bag in her other hand swinging heavily against her leg. She smiled. She’d followed Kakashi-sensei’s advice - and his provided directions - and found a proper shinobi tool shop, replacing the kunai she’d been using that brought such a dubious look to Kakashi-sensei’s face.

Though she wouldn’t have been able to months ago, Sakura could tell the difference just by feeling them in her hands, running a careful thumb over the edge. They were solid, with cleaner lines and better balance, a keener edge and a slender grip that suited her hand. Not quite identical to the ones her teammates and sensei used, but just as well made and more comfortable for her.

Perhaps she would return, after getting a feel for these, and see what other tools or weaponry might be . . . easier to use, if she were using ninja quality material. She felt a flicker of irritation for _not knowing_ , simply because she was civilian born.

Perhaps she would ask Kakashi-sensei what she should try, or perhaps she would just show up to training with something new. . . Sakura was confident that Kakashi-sensei could guide her whatever she chose - she doubted she could find anything he wasn’t familiar with if she _tried_.

She bounced the bag lightly as she passed back into a more familiar part of the market - one frequented by civilians as well as ninja, perhaps a few more of the former than the latter. Naruto was still draped around her shoulders, a bit too warm considering the sunny day, but not uncomfortable.

Sakura shifted her grip and reached-

“Sakura-chan!”

Sakura blinked, turning. “Mom!” She tilted her head, taking a few steps towards her mother. “Hi?”

“What are you doing? I thought you had training all day?” her mom asked, smiling and beginning to reach for Sakura as though to neaten her dress or hair, then stopping herself.

“Oh. We did, but Kakashi-sensei let us go just a little bit ago.” Sakura gestured. “Sasuke was exhausted,” she sighed; he had been tree walking the _entire_ time and refused to come down until he’d exhausted himself and fallen, nearly breaking his neck, “and Kakashi-sensei had to. . . Anyway, I needed to replace some of my gear.” She held up her bag illustratively. She was glad it didn’t show what was in it, because her mom was _weirdly_ uneasy around her weaponry sometimes.

Sakura was a _ninja_ , her mom should’ve been used to it, she thought.

“And . . . a fur?” her mom said with an uncertain look, and Sakura frowned, confused. “I didn’t think. . . Even if you were going to wear such a thing, dear, isn’t it a bit warm?”

Sakura blinked. “Oh!” She laughed as realisation dawned. “No, this is one of my teammates, Mom.” she said, reaching up and petting Naruto’s neck.

Naruto lifted his head with a little friendly yip, wriggling around her shoulders, tail twitching. Her mom’s eyes widened, and Sakura rubbed one of Naruto’s ears between her fingers, prompting a soft happy gekker from him.

“Oh! Oh. . . Um, is he . . . coming for dinner?” her mom asked uncertainly, and Sakura paused, surprised.

Naruto fell silent, stilling, and Sakura sniffed, tilting her head to look at him. His ears were bent low. “If you don’t mind, Mom? Do you want to, Naruto-kun?” she asked as her mother indicated that it was fine.

Naruto’s ears and tail twitched, and then he grinned, yipping and wriggling closer to her neck, making her giggle, cupping her hand around his shoulder.


End file.
